Digimon: Armaggedon
by Jinn Kimura
Summary: It's been a year since the threat was vanquished, but Jinn Kimura is still not tranquil. His fears are made true when a catastrophe shakes the line between the two worlds. Without any obvious suspect, can a veteran Tamer get to the bottom of it all?
1. Chapter 1

_"You will be your own demise…"_

The darkness was suffocating. Like a living, breathing blanket that engulfed everything around him, impeding the air from reaching his lungs. It covered everything. It was endless, like the sky or the sand at the edges of the sea.

_"You fight against nature itself… Your own…"_

It did not allow him to move. Every effort to fight it resulted in a doubled force keeping him in place, crushing his body, snapping his bones. It drenched of fear and death, its pestilence deeply ingrained in his brain.

_"… And in your arrogance, it will devour you…"_

He couldn't hold for much longer. He needed to breathe, he needed to move. But as much as he struggled, it was useless, like a fly caught in the web of a spider. But it would never kill him; He knew that very well. It would just keep him where he wouldn't be heard screaming…

_"You brought this upon yourself"_

He woke up, frozen in place, clutching the sheets by his sides like if the room had suddenly flipped around. His emerald eyes rolled around in their orbits, trying to locate the source of an annoying buzzing that he soon found out was his own breathing, combined with his rapid-paced heart beat hammering his whole body. His skin was covered in a cold sweat.

Still half-asleep, he refused to move in his confusion for a few minutes more. It was only after the sun had raised enough to hit his face through the window that he lifted a hand to block it, and once he was sure no consequence would arise from that action, he uncovered himself and sat on the edge of the bed. His head rested heavily between his hands.

"It was a dream… a nightmare… it will never come back…" He whispered to himself. He repeated it several times, to make sure he believed it, and he had been repeating it to himself every morning of every day for the last 12 months.

"We killed him… it… It will never return…" But at what cost? That was the doubt that burned in his mind every time. After it was all over, there was so much he had to leave behind, and so many people that had to pay the price of his victory. The fallout on both worlds made it impossible to call any of them home.

The sound of the alarm clock startled him: 6:30 a.m. already. Angry at the device, he left his palm slam against the button to turn it off, and then walked out of the small, messy room and into the shower.

A few minutes later, when he was out getting dressed, he proceeded into the next part of his unusual routine: He caught a glance of his digivice, always a reminder of what had happened, of the things he'd experienced that only few could relate to, and the decisions he made that had no turning back.

When he first traveled into the Digital World, he was a troublesome kid in the body of an 18 year-old; aggressive, arrogant, and feeling entitled to whatever the strength of his fists could get him. He had no idea how or why of all people was he chosen when the disruptions started, but he could name at least four people that could've done a better job. They needed a human to stop it. Why to choose a mere street thug?

After it was done, he left the Digital World a hero, but he would never accept such a title after what he had to do. He still believed there must have been a better solution, even if he could not see it after all this time.

He sighed, pressing his hands against his eyes and letting them slide through his brown hair. He then took a good look at the small room: His clothes were everywhere, dropped on the floor or hanging off the scarce furniture. The floor was covered in a fine layer of dust, and one could not quite see through the window. The rest of the house was in a slightly less ordained state, and the desk with his laptop, digivice and alarm clock was the only place in perfect order. He made mental note to clean up everything that deep down he knew would be disregarded later.

He got dressed, and then walked to the living room next door: There was nothing he had to do this early in the morning, but sleeping provided him with no rest anymore, so for the last year he had been sleeping late and waking up early. It was tough, but compared to the nightmares, the adjustment became steadily easier.

"Speaking of things one does not get used to…" The boy took a look at the lonely sofa resting on the center of the living room, right in front of the entrance door: A large, black creature resembling an alligator of some kind snored peacefully in it. It had long, sharp claws, and with every exhalation, faint puffs of black smoke shot out of his nose. A normal person would be terrorized from the sight…

"I already put an extra bed, and you continue to sleep there like a stray dog" He groaned. The creature moved its strangely shaped ears, and then lifted its head up to glare at the human with its intense ruby eyes. The boy was not scared one bit, instead glancing at the open window to the right that led to a three stories high view of the city below "At what time did you arrive?"

"Piss off, Jinn" The creature growled, resting its head on the arm of the safe and closing its eyes "Nobody spotted me, so stop being such a hassle"

"You have such a wonderful mood in the mornings" Jinn commented, going to the small fridge plugged mindlessly by the dining table and extracting some leftovers from yesterday's dinner from it. He sat down and stared at the tuna salad, poking it around with a plastic fork. His appetite was also pretty affected by it all; most of the time he ate by inertia, the simple custom of doing so every day, and small portions at that. He looked through the open window in front of him, towards the city that he fled to; the city that he could never call home.

"Darkguilmon…" With a gloom look on his eyes bathed by the sun, Jinn called at his annoyed partner "Do you think we did the right thing?"

"Like I've said a good hundred times before: We did what we had to do. End of the story" The creature growled, not that interested in his partner's worries "The Dark Core would've done much more damage had we not traveled through the worlds. And you'd be bitching about _that_ instead"

Jinn growled in resignation "I guess you're right… but… all that people…"

"We spared them a much worse destiny. They would be thankful" Darkguilmon replied, bored of Jinn's constant regret. Jinn sighed; Darkguilmon was a tough creature to have around. Unlike many digimon, that adopted a live-and-let-live approach to most of their business, he had grown to be a warrior and a hunter, and his sense of mercy was almost non-existent. His general attitude would annoy Jinn much more, but considering how he was first, this was an improvement.

Jinn took a while to eat what was in his plate, then went to brush his teeth and go to college later on. It was when he was stuffing forcefully the books into his bag pack. He had remembered just now that he had forgotten a report due today, when a noise alerted him. It was a strange beeping, that repeated a faint but oddly familiar melody.

Like if lightning had struck him all of sudden, Jinn turned around, looking frenetically at the desk behind him. The digivice, barely the size of a cellphone, emitted a red glow to accompany that sound. The digivice had not done something like that in one year…

It only did it when there was danger nearby.


	2. Chapter 2: Return Home

-Darkguilmon!-Jinn called, running back towards the living room; that short distance felt like kilometers to him, every large step he gave taken almost in slow motion. Maybe the device was just malfunctioning… Was that possible? Or maybe it was an ally digimon; he didn't know exactly how the digivice would work in the human world after all. But what would a digimon be doing here anyways?

All those thoughts, all the possibilities presented by those ideas flashed through his eyes at a sickening speed. He stepped in a rush into the living room: Darkguilmon was not in the sofa anymore, but peeking out of the window in alert. He was trembling lightly, while a deep and menacing growl was emitted out of his mouth along with a constant stream of smoke.

-It's a digimon…-Darkguilmon muttered when Jinn approached him. The creature chuckled in anticipation-Finally there's something interesting to do here…-

-This is not a game-Jinn replied. His partner dismissed his worries-Can you tell where it is?-

-It shouldn't be that hard. But by I can't feel any scent from the Digital World, so it's probably very far away-Darkguilmon explained: He wasn't deterred by such a fact at all. Jinn looked at the horizon, estranged and confused with the situation; somehow these problems had followed him to this town, and as far as he knew, he and his partner was the only one that could remedy them.

-Go ahead. I'll catch up with you as fast as I can. Don't let anyone see you! - Jinn instructed.

Darkguilmon glanced at him for a moment, so as to signal that he half-heard his indications, then climbed out of the window and up the building to reach the rooftops. Jinn ran back to his room, grabbed his bag-pack and emptied all of the books on the bed carelessly. After that, he opened the mini-fridge and the few shelves in the house that contained any canned food and non-perishables, and stuffed them in the bag whatever way they could fit. Then he returned to his room and packed some clothes in an equally careless manner.

The nightmares had kept that moment always present in his mind since he returned from the Digital World; the moment that they would finally require his assistance again. Time and time again had he pondered what would he do if it happened, when it happened. The first time he was young, unprepared, and as far as he was concerned he could've avoided much grief had he simply been more focused and willing to adopt his paper in that world, instead of trying to return to this one. Such indecision had destroyed what little he had to value to begin with…

He blinked, staring at the shirt he had in his hands like it was some alien object, then shook his head to erase those thoughts from his head.

_"It is not the time for that"_ He thought, then repeated it a couple times to let it sink in as he crossed the apartment's length with large steps and climbed down the building rapidly. His breathing had become agitated by the time he reached the first floor. He unchained a red bicycle from a lamp post, and before going he extracted his digivice from it.

The machine had the ability to track his partner, something that had resulted useful during Darkguilmon's first escapades in the human world to keep its reckless nature in check. Simultaneously, Darkguilmon was a born hunter: He could track a particular scent from amazingly long distances, and once caught up into the chase, he was unstoppable. Jinn only hoped that his partner would chase the intruder away from the city.

He pedaled furiously, the bike stumbling to one side and the other due attempting to look at both the road and his digivice at the same time. The city was fortunately not very big, and thus it was mostly peaceful; their residents were friendly, trusting and laid-back. At this time of the day, there were only a few students of lazy expressions, people going to work and one or two persons out for a jog. It was the perfect place for somebody looking to leave the past behind and start over, even if Jinn looked wildly out of place in that tranquil environment.

A few minutes later, Jinn had exited the city and crossed one of the few roads that connected it to the rest, and then turned right in one of the forks in the road that lead into the countryside. A little tranquility had returned to Jinn's mind when he left the boundaries of the town behind; maybe the situation wasn't as bad as he thought it was.

Finally, Jinn could spot some signs of a battle: Charred and destroyed trees blocked the main road, so he hopped off the bike and continued running forward. The adrenaline rush he suddenly felt made him sprint until he could see his partner, growling furiously at a couple of tall creatures in red, samurai styled armor. They resembled humans in many aspects, but couldn't be confounded with them: They were muscular and tall, of fierce yellow eyes and mouths full of fangs like those of a shark.

-To think that a mere rookie would cause so much trouble- The furthest one growled. Jinn realized it had something hanging from his shoulder: It was a human girl of black hair, completely limp and unaware of what was happening, or worse.

-Let her go! -Jinn exclaimed, arriving by his partner's side almost completely out of breath. The two creatures looked at each other, apparently confused.

-It's another. He didn't say anything about others…-One of them commented. He was signaling at Jinn's digivice at that moment.

-We're taking him too, then-The one carrying the girl answered.

-Come and try…-Jinn replied, holding his digivice towards his partner-You have no idea what you got yourselves into!-

Darkguilmon's growling became louder, as he exhaled a thick screen of black smoke from its mouth. The invading digimon took a few steps back, ready for to counter. As the smoke cleared away, a towering silhouette could be seen beneath: It had the shape of Darkguilmon, but much larger. A loud flapping sound was heard, as the smoke was swept away completely by the wind created of the creature's newly grown leathery wings. Jinn had climbed on up its neck, holding from a messy hassock of ashy hair on the dragon's head.

-No idea indeed…-The digimon chuckled, slamming its tail in the ground as it rose to its full height.

-Take care, Darkgrowlmon. Do not harm the girl-Jinn instructed. The digimon emitted another thick cloud of smoke from its nose in disapproval.

-You don't scare us, boy! Come down here and surrender peacefully, and we won't harm your pet!-Boasted the enemy that was free. The other one backed even further, with its sword in hand.

-Filthy roach…-Darkgrowlmon gnarled, enraged-Do not call me a pet!-

The dragon then rushed the offender digimon and swept away with its claws; it jumped to avoid him and ran up Darkgrowlmon's arm, only to be blown away by another powerful gust from its wings. Jinn's partner spun rapidly to whip the digimon with its tail before it even touched the ground.

-Shit! Don't move so much!-Jinn protested, holding onto his digivice and his partner's horn.

-You've lost practice and strength, it's your own fault-Darkgrowlmon protested.

-Damn… I'm not beaten yet!-His opponent called, preparing to attack again only to be stopped by its companion.

-Enough! It's better we take this one to him now!-The second one claimed. They nodded and suddenly began running away among the trees.

-What do I do? I thought I wasn't supposed to be seen…-Darkgrowlmon asked, more out of courtesy than actual worry.

-Forget that. We can't allow them to take her!-Jinn replied. Almost immediately, the digimon expanded its wings, and with a single, powerful jump, began flying, giving chase to the two escaping digimon. Jinn checked his digivice, trying to get it to scan the creatures so as to plan better their rescue.

_"Musyamon_

Virus Type. Adult Level."

The digivice refused to show any more information. Jinn was estranged, since in the past it was able to give him all the information he needed on an opponent. Undeterred, he put it away in his pocket and looked at the landscape below: He hoped they were far enough from the city to remain unseen, even if the chance was small. Jinn looked down at the trees; while he was unable to see their enemy, he could feel Darkgrowlmon's acute gaze following them. Jinn wondered where they could be escaping to…

Then, as if driven by instinct, he looked forward. There he saw it: A strange space of air, large enough to be seen from the sky that moved like ripples in a lake.

_"A Digital Gate…?!"_

He couldn't be mistaken: Jinn could never forget the first time he saw a Digital Gate, even if the horrible things that happened later would forever burn its appearance in his mind. Suddenly, the current situation turned a lot worse.

-There's a Gate, Darkgrowlmon!-Jinn shouted, to make himself heard over the roar of the wind-Cut them off! We must stop them from reaching it at all costs!-

-You said it!-Darkgrowlmon roared. It began flying lower, just above the trees, and began sweeping it its claws at the intruders. They did everything to evade him, and then began counterattacking with their swords, which shot fire every time they swung them.  
Darkgrowlmon flew up a little, took a deep breath, and then positioned himself above them-Exhaust Breath!-

The dragon exhaled black flames in front of the Musyamon in an attempt to cut their way off. They stopped in their tracks, and looked up. The one that had attacked them earlier figured the only way to escape was to pass over Darkgrowlmon first, so he charged recklessly against him, roaring furiously.

-Shogun Sword!-The Musyamon shouted, leaping agilely and swinging its sword, which immediately spat out a stream of fire towards Darkgrowlmon. Avoiding by a small space, the enraged digimon grabbed Musyamon out of the air with its giant hand, and then launched him up in the air.

-Starlight Crush!-Darkgrowlmon opened its mouth, and a powerful blast of lighting was shot out of his throat, impacting Musyamon and charring him away.

-Where's the other one?!- Jinn asked nervously. Darkgrowlmon looked down, only to see how the other invader jumped into the portal with its hostage -Shit, no!-

-I'll get him!-

-Wait!-Jinn exclaimed suddenly, as if for a reflex. The digimon stopped in its tracks, waiting impatiently for his partner. Jinn was breathing heavily: He never wanted this moment to come, even if he was always expecting it, he did not want it to happen.

-The gate is closing! If you expect me to rescue her, don't hesitate! -Darkgrowlmon gnarled in annoyance. Jinn was frozen in place: His partner was right. This was no time to doubt.

-Damn... Go, then! Let's go!-Jinn exclaimed, clutching his partner's horn. The digimon immediately flew towards the Gate, and every second of it looked like an eternity to Jinn. A part of him wanted that Gate to close; he wanted them both to crash on the ground and be done with it. He wanted to be in another weirdly vivid dream. Anything, the smallest error at least, to avoid returning to the Digital World…

None of it happened. Darkgrowlmon crossed the door just before it shrank too small for its giant frame to go through. Jinn did not wake up, nor did he let go of his partner's head. The sensation of passing through was just as asphyxiating as before. It was like he was drowning.

And for a moment, it was like going back home.


End file.
